Fitting, possibly for a chariot

Original Language TitleLiujin qian liuli longfeng zun

CultureChinese

Dateearly 3rd century B.C.E.

MediumGilt bronze inlaid with glass

DimensionsOverall: 12 1/2 × 4 × 2 1/2 inches (31.75 × 10.16 × 6.35 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: the Lillian M. Diveley Fund, Menefee D. Blackwell Fund, Hall Family Foundation Endowment for the Oriental Department, Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman and Thomas L. Beckett Fund

Object number2000.15.2

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionThe pair of fittings is cast with bird and animal designs, both of which are identical and complement the direction of each other. Eyes and bodies of the animals were inlaid with blue glass with white whorls. One end of each fitting is formed by a cloven hoof and well-modeled heel, on which the center is a whorl glass inlay; the other end is open to receive the pole. A phoenix, which dominates the decoration of each fitting, opens its sharp beak and curls its long tail up to the hoof. Under the hoof, a monkey squats on the tail of a dragon-like creature that writhes along the fitting in the opposite direction of the phoenix and is intertwined with other animal motifs.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Look closely to sort out the intertwining dragon and bird as they wrap around an upside-down deer leg. The dragons are upside down, looking upward from the base. At the top, just below the hoof, a monkey sits on the tail of a dragon while draping an arm over the tail feather of a bird. Although we do not know how these fittings functioned-possibly they were part of a chariot-such magnificent objects likely suggest royal ownership.

Provenance

Eskenazi (US) Ltd.;

Purchased from Eskenazi (US) Ltd. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2000.

Published References

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 300, no. 56 (repro.).

Colin Mackenzie, with contributions by Ling-En Lu, Masterworks of Chinese art: the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2011), 28-19, no. 4 (repro.).

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